tagged, i have been

Daday tagged me! You will shortly realize how boring I am! Nyahahaha.

Three names you go by:
1. Nini - because my sister couldn't pronounce "tiney" when we were young!
2. Tin/Tintin
3. KJ/Kaje

Three screen names you have had:
1. Kaje
2. Sweetie
3. Looney

Three physical things you like about yourself:
1. my lips however thin.
2. my eyes
3. my hair (except during bad days!)

Three physical things you don't like about yourself:
1. my nose (which spreads even more whenI smile hahahaha I love my smile though and I don't plan to have a nose lift either)
2. my legs
3. my boobs (I wish they were huhmmm a bit bigger hahahah)

Three parts of your heritage:
1. Filipino
2. Chinese
3. Spanish (kunyari dahil sa apelyido hehe)

Three things that scare you:
1. Lightning and thunder
2. Big dogs
3. Strangers (kapraningan!!)

Three of your everyday essentials:
1. Coke Light
2. At least 8 hours of sleep.
3. Car with enough gas (everyday is a surprise!!)

Three of your favorite musical artists:
1. James Ingram
2. Martin Nievera
3. All the other crooners!

Three of your favorite songs:
1. Whatever sounds happy.
2. Whatever sounds mushy.
3. I've finally found someone

Three things you want in a relationship:
1. Humor
2. Cozy moments
3. Believing that we are perfect for each other.

Three lies and truths in no particular order:
[LIES]
1. That I am never good enough.
2. That I am not loved.
3. That nobody needs me and vice-versa.

[TRUTH]
1. That being religious doesn't mean one is spiritual.
2. That I also need to find time for myself.
3. That not everything you find in the Net is true.

Three physical things about the opposite sex that appeals to you:
1. Smooth hands
2. Bilbil (honest!)
3. Clean nails

Three of your favorite hobbies:
1. reading
2. badminton
3. watching movies

Three things you want to do really badly now:
1. plan for our wedding!!!!
2. watch some season ender episodes of FRIENDS
3. finish this.

Three careers you're considering/you've considered:
1. Pre-school teacher
2. Wedding coordinator cum florist
3. HR Practitioner

Three places you want to go on vacation:
1. San Jose (I miss Joaquin!!)
2. Europe
3. Phuket

Three kid's names you like:
1. Andrew
2. Maria
3. Katrina

Three things you want to do before you die:
1. Watch my children grow up
2. Scuba dive
3. Travel around the world

Three ways that you are stereotypically a boy:
1. I can't stand heels!
2. I prefer pants to skirts.
3. I tend to fix and mend things.

Three ways that you are stereotypically a girl:
1. I spend at least an hour in the bathroom
2. A busy day means a lot of services from the salon and spa.
3. I love mushy, feel-good movies.

Three celeb crushes:
1. Richard Gere forever!
2. Nathan Robertson (pero sa TV lang, suplado sa personal eh!)
3. Angelina Jolie (does this count? hahahaha! Ganda kasi eh, sana kasing ganda nya ako...)

Three people I'm Tagging:
1. Mae (sa friendster blog mo ilagay!!!!)
2. Donna Chocnut
3. Mmy-lei

This wasn't easy at all!!!!

manang anecdote 1: para sure...

My family and I are Coke drinkers. We see to it that we have enough supply especially during meals. One lunch time, I realized that our stock have run out. So obviously, I asked Manang to buy some from the nearby store.

Me: Manang, pabili naman ng coke.
Her: Ok, day. Anong size?
Me: Yung malaki na, madami tayo eh.
Her: Ilan, day?
Me: Isa lang yung 1.5 na...(remembering we were in Bulacan), ay baka wala dito nung ganun, sige kahit litro na lang, bili ka dalawa.
Her: Sige day, bili na ako.

We waited for her to arrive before we started eating, and she returned with two bottles of Coke: 1 1.5 liter and 1 1 liter. So I asked her:

Me: Oh manang, bat magkaiba size niyan?
Her: Nakalimutan ko sabi mo day, kaya tig-isa binili ko, para sigurado! (with a smile!!)

Oo nga naman! Hehe.

who is manang?

Manang is the one who takes care of my brothers (and I when I'm at the apartment). She has been with us for more than two years now. She hails from a good family in Cebu. She was referred to us by her cousin who works for one of mommy's uncle.

She didn't need to work, by the way, her family can survive even if she stay in the province. But she chose to be in Manila after her husband died. She needed to forget and get on with her life. It was hard for her to do that if she stayed in Cebu.

She has then gained our trust. The problem is, she can't do most household chores. She can do things but cannot meet our standards. She can't cook. She can't do the laundry well. She can't iron properly. She can, however, clean the house, go to the bank, pay the bills. She's not perfect but we keep her because she's easy to work with anyway.

I'm giving you Manang's brief background for you to picture how it has been in our home with her. We're always having the laughs of our lives. My brothers and I thought we should post some of her anecdotes here. No, not to make jokes at her expense but to point out that since she arrived in our lives, ours have never been livelier. Teehee!

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Note on August 17, 2005: Manang left for her hometown on August 9 to care for her ailing mother. We still aren't sure if she will return to us, but we honestly hope she would.

bits o' updates

It's been a while since I posted things I should be blogging about. I guess everything was overshadowed by the news that we finally got engaged. And since I had to shake off a little of my excitement (or we might end up breaking the engagement if I keep on insisting and bugging him harharhar), I'm back!

Last night we surprised Dad's mom, our Nanay L, with a celebration for her 75th birthday. Nanay L has long been refusing to celebrate her birthday every year but since 75 is such a special year, my parents planned to do something together with the whole family (think seven kids and a horde of grandchildren, though we were incomplete last night). The whole day yesterday, no one greeted Nanay, everyone of course was an accomplice! By mid-afternoon, she was so irritated that no one seemed to remember her. The plan was that, Tatay would ask Nanay to dine out and then the one who will drive them to the restaurant will "switch" cars when they pass by Max's Meyc, and they will lead Nanay inside where everyone is waiting.

I should have taken a shot of Nanay's face when she realized we were there. She was so happy she even cried. As I was fixing the cake she asked me, "ano yang nakalagay sa cake?" I replied, "eh di yung candles mo, seven tsaka five." And she whispered to me, "73 lang ako eh, 1932 ako pinanganak..."

Bummer! We were celebrating the wrong year, hahahah! I joked to everyone that we should all go home since we were all wrong! hehehe. But it was a wonderful night, nonetheless. I'm just not sure how are we going to pull another surprise party when her real 75th year arrives hahahah. Pictures here.

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Watching the MVP Cup live was an experience to remember, though I equally enjoyed watching it on TV (with the replays and all). We watched on the third day, Mhel's birthday. It became even more memorable when Mhel caught the racquet Nathan Robertson used and threw after winning with partner Gail Emms against RP's own, the Asuncion siblings. The Nathan and Gail partnership is currently the world's number one in mixed doubles. So you could just imagine our excitement when he actually caught it (coach w caught it first but then about three people literally kicked his back which caused the racquet to slip and fall on us). Some pictures here.

Some of the Baddicts! went on having late dinner at Pier One Ortigas, afterwards. Again pictures here.

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Isn't it ironic?

To return from a one-month cruise, healthy and happy, and then die of heart attack?
For the wife to fall asleep and be awakened by a bad dream where the husband was screaming for help?
For the wife to find the husband's dead body on the receiving room floor a few minutes after the bad dream?
To be laid in state in a grand house barely finished?
To be riding a brand new black Cadillac, IN A BOX?

A lot of people would say, "Iba talaga magbiro ang tadhana..." But I guess that's just the way it is. It is our destiny. But he wasn't able to say good bye. His family believes, he never truly left.

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Another close family friend died on Sunday. She was 28 when she surrendered to the Big C. She gave a good fight and her mother fought for her too. She was ready to go, but her mother wasn't. In the end, one of her last wishes was not fulfilled that she be put in a lavender coffin. Because of the disease, she was bloated, and she wouldn't fit in ready to made caskets.

Anyhow, I know she's happy now. She's finally free from any pain that the disease have caused her.

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May both Ka R. and C rest in peace!

wedding blog

We've created a new blog solely for wedding details and updates. We even plan to keep it updated even after the wedding!!

Visit us!!


mag-ane.blogspot.com


PS. Yup, the engagement kwento is there as first post! It's actually my version hehehe

pathetic no more...

Exactly a year ago I was this kind of girlfriend.

Three days ago, I was still the same. Wishing. And hoping. And waiting.

Two days ago, it's considered done and over with. Surely, I'll be busy for the next nine months (possibly). Wink! Wink!

I don't even know where to start!!! Aaaarrrgghhh!!! :-D

i wanna know what love is...

Isn't love amazing?!? Love is actually in the little things that we do. Thanks Rissa for emailing and leading me to this site. For more Love is strips, go here.

perfectly fried crispy bacon strips...

I can't remember when my love for crispy bacon started. I love Wendy's Bacon Mushroom Melt. I love salads with Bacon bits. And I definitely love Pancake House's Bacon strips I can finish three orders of 4 strips in one sitting!!! (minsan nahilo ako pauwi sa sobrang dami ng fats na naconsume ko!!). I realized I can't always buy. That I can save more if I prepare the yummy strips myself. But I had to learn to cook it correctly first. Some told me to use an oven toaster. Some had no idea. Mhel suggested that we ask one of his friends who is connected with Pancake House. This afternoon at the supermarket, I realized I only needed to READ the package.

Side kwento: As I was checking out and claiming my umbrella at the supermarket, I was the first in line and suddenly some girl cut the line and went straight to the counter boy. Followed by another girl. The counter boy attended to the first girl. Then faced those depositing their things. As the counter boy was about to get the claim number from the othe girl who cut the line:

Me: Excuse me, nauna pa ako sa kanila...
Girl: Eh di mauna ka na!! (with matching banging of the hand on the counter!)
Me: kinda shocked...I wasn't talking to you...I was referring to the girl ahead of you. At for your information, hindi ikaw ang kausap ko, kundi siya (pointing to the counter boy).

And she was speechless for a second and gave me a grave look. As I left, I muttered, loud enough for her to hear, "React nang react, hindi naman kinakausap tsk!" Ang hirap naman kasi sa ibang tao, wala na sa lugar, sila pa ang galet!

Back to my kwento: And so armed with my newly purchased teflon pan (which is by the way, a part of my learning process..heheh), I did as directed:

Line on an unheated pan strips of thawed out bacon.
Turn on the stove at medium heat.
Wait until golden brown.
For crispy strips, drain bacon oil when needed.
When done, use paper towels to take out excess fats.

Wow! Perfectly perfect!! Tomorrow, I'll have pancakes and bacon for breakfast!!!! Yey!

when the chicken 'shrank'

After canvassing for a nice espresso machine, we were tired and hungry. We decided to eat at Max's. We were finally seated at a corner table. After a few minutes, Mom and I felt rally warm. We found out later on the the store's airconditioning was busted. It was terribly hot and I felt like fainting (No. I'm not exaggerating...I really couldn't take it even though I have high tolerance for heat, you get the picture). And so our story began...The tale of the Fan.

Why the Electric fan is facing the wall? It started with...

Me: talking to the waiter...Sir pwedeng igitna yung fan, kasi sobrang init talaga eh. Makikishare lang kami ng konting hangin...

Lady for the nearby table: Aba! Nauna kami rito ba't niyo kukunin yung bentilador?!?

Me: Hindi naman po kukunin makikishare lang, iuusod lang ng konti pati magcirculate naman ng konti ang hangin...

Lady: Pag ginalaw niyo yan, kahit nakaorder na kami tatayo talaga ako dito!!!!!! Blah Blah Blah...

The waiter couldn't do anything but coyly smile. Ey, I really couldn't take it anymore so...

Me: Pare-pareho lang naman tayo hong nagbabayad dito. Pare-pareho tayong customer. Ang sa akin lang, mahihimatay na talaga ako, mahirap ba intindihin yon?!?

At this time, Mommy definitely was taking my side. We were quite hoping Dad would enter already from the nearby shop so the lady will get what she's asking for, heheheh. Some people could get very insensitive about others. They feel they are superior than others. Being there ahead of time doesn't mean she's always right.

Finally, one of the lady's companions stood up and took the matters to her hands, literally. She hoped to make the fan rotate but it won't, she tried to to make the fan face the ceiling but it won't either. Her solution: make the air bounce but facing it to the wall. We all calmed down.

And what about the shrinkin' chicken?!?

The menu says, the Fiesta Plate consists of a cup of rice, lumpia, dessert, drinks and 1/4 of a chicken. I always always order this when we dine in. Their idea of 1/4 chicken though seems like a cut from a very malnourished bird. More like 1/8 to me. Sheesh. Times are indeed getting hard.